BOMBACEi^:. 89 



1. Helictercs Jamai'censis. Jamaica Screw-tree. 



Decandrous, leaves cordate serrated pubescent above 

 velutino-tomentose beneath, flowers axillary subter- 

 minal few corymbose, fruit ovate densely tomentose. 



Abutilo affinis arbor, cujus fructus est styli apex acutus qua- 

 tuor s. quinque siliquis hirsutis, funis ad instar in spiram con- 

 volutis, Sloane, I. 22. — Helicteres villosa et fructicosa, 

 Browne, 330. — H. Jama'icensis, Swariz^ Fl. Ind. Occ. 1156. 



HAB. Lime-stone districts. Not rare. 



FL. June — December. 



Stem arborescent, 10-12 feet in heigbt : branches spreading, 

 compressed towards their extremities, farinoso-tomentose with 

 stellated hairs. Leaves cordate, ovate, serrated, triply-nerved, 

 green and slightly stellato-pubescent above, pale and densely 

 stellato-tomentose beneath, 6 inches long, and the same broad : 

 petiole about 2 inches long, terete. Stipules subulate. Pe- 

 duncle axillary, shorter than the leaf, about 3-flowered, terete, 

 farinoso-tomentose : flowers white, not showy, pedicelled. 

 Calyx bell-shaped, compressed, externally farinoso-tomentose 

 with stellated hairs, 2-lipped ; upper lip longer than the lower, 

 and bifid ; lower lip 3-fid. Petals .5, longer than the calyx, un- 

 equal, deciduous ; the 2 upper ones broader, oblong, concave ; 

 the 3 lower narrower. Column of the filaments about 3 inches 

 long, terete, curved. Fertile stamens 10, very short ; sterile, 

 5. Ovary hirsute : style subulate : stigmata 5-fid. Carpels 

 5, twisted into a spire, externally densely farinoso-tomentose 

 with stellated hairs, which, when ripe, are easily abraded, free 

 for a few lines at the apex and dehiscent internally : seeds nu- 

 merous, oval, compressed, angulated. ^ 



A decoction or infusion of the leaves and fruit, may be used 

 as a substitute for a similar preparation of the Marsh-mallow, 

 and given as a drink in fevers, consumption, cough, &c. A 

 decoction of the roots of one species, H. sacarolha, is consid- 

 ered, in Brazil, as anti-syphilitic. 



II. Adansonia. 



Calyx naked, deciduous, 5-partite. Petals 5, united 

 as far as the middle. Urceole of the stamens dilatato- 

 expanded at the upper part. Style very long : stig- 

 mata many. Capsule indehiscent, woody, lO-celled ; 

 cells many-seeded, filled with a farinaceous pulp around 

 the seeds. 



Named, in honour of Michael Adanson, a celebrated French 

 Botanist, author of a Voyage to Senegal, Families des Plantes, 

 and other works. 



